WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.319 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:02.479 --> 00:00:07.040 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:08.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:20.640 --> 00:00:22.399 It was 2003. 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:24.239 Newly married. 00:00:24.399 --> 00:00:26.000 We're living in downtown Chicago. 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:28.480 I'm studying at Moody Bible Institute. 00:00:28.719 --> 00:00:35.119 I'd go down to Starbucks just right across the street from Moody and study. 00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:40.799 And one day while I was there, I got my Bible out and I got my computer out. 00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:46.000 Um this older gentleman, uh, he's uh, what are you reading? 00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:50.159 And I looked at it and I said, uh, well, I'm reading the Bible. 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:55.439 And I saw that he was reading, and we, you know, when you see regulars, like I knew him, but I didn't know him. 00:00:55.520 --> 00:00:56.560 We noticed each other. 00:00:56.719 --> 00:00:58.159 I'm like, what are you reading? 00:00:58.399 --> 00:01:09.359 And he was reading uh the national bestseller just recently hit and it was going off like wildfire. 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:11.920 It was a book called The Da Vinci Code. 00:01:12.159 --> 00:01:15.519 The Da Vinci Code, and he said, Yeah, I'm reading this book called The Da Vinci Code. 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:16.400 I'm like, oh, that's amazing. 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:26.000 He's like, Yeah, did you know that your Bible uh, you know, like really powerful men shaped it for political reasons? 00:01:26.159 --> 00:01:27.439 It's like, oh, interesting. 00:01:27.519 --> 00:01:27.760 Yeah. 00:01:27.920 --> 00:01:31.359 Yeah, Jesus wasn't really divine and he didn't die. 00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:39.439 Actually, uh, he was married to Mary Magdalene, and you know, there's actually uh other gospels that the powerful suppressed. 00:01:39.519 --> 00:01:41.840 And I was like, oh wow, that's fascinating. 00:01:41.920 --> 00:01:43.200 That's incredible. 00:01:43.519 --> 00:01:50.159 Um it sparked a beautiful friendship. 00:01:50.879 --> 00:01:55.040 Uh one, because I have a fast, I love, I love great books. 00:01:55.280 --> 00:01:56.959 I said, Well, that seems like a great book. 00:01:57.040 --> 00:01:58.079 Uh let me read it. 00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:01.280 So I picked up a copy of the Da Vinci Code, devoured it. 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:04.480 It is a page turner, by the way, if you haven't read it. 00:02:05.120 --> 00:02:09.520 And I said, Well, maybe we should talk more about all the things you're talking about, because that's a big deal. 00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:12.960 If that's true, then I I can't base my life on this. 00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:27.520 And we began a series of conversations, hour after hour, at that coffee shop, talking about, oh, is all the what the Da Vinci codes say real? 00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:37.280 He knew it was a work of fiction, but at the same time, he's like, Dan Brown didn't just come up with that, he's drawing on something there. 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:47.120 The truth is, the platform has changed in some ways today, but the questions still persist. 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:48.800 These things still come up. 00:02:48.960 --> 00:03:05.680 It's professors in a class, it's podcasts, it's uh TikTok theologians that are saying all of these things that if I was didn't have the background that I have, the study that I have, it would have left me deeply unsettled. 00:03:05.759 --> 00:03:11.680 And if I just read what he had read, I maybe would have come to the same conclusions. 00:03:12.319 --> 00:03:27.599 Because the truth is, most of us, when we come across really difficult questions, especially about God or the Bible, we don't know that there are really good answers or even where to find those answers. 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:35.439 And I think one of the questions that we have to ask if we're gonna be, you know, intellectually credible, is this. 00:03:35.680 --> 00:03:50.719 Rosaline Picard asked an MIT professor, AI expert, she said, is Christianity based on an objective truth, or is it just a delusion that people keep alive for some compelling reason? 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:55.439 Is it based on an objective truth or is it just a delusion? 00:03:55.520 --> 00:04:07.120 Is this just like, should this be in the same category as the Da Vinci Code, or in the same category as, you know, the Lord of the Rings? 00:04:07.360 --> 00:04:08.879 That is just mythology. 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:14.639 It's ancient literature, but it has no real bearing on our lives. 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:18.240 And so today we want to ask and wrestle with this question. 00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:21.120 Did God really write a book? 00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:30.160 Is this really a God book or just a, you know, fabrication of man book? 00:04:30.319 --> 00:04:32.959 And how do we really discern? 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:38.079 Uh, through our time, I want to ask and hopefully wrestle with three big questions. 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:40.399 First is, what is the Bible? 00:04:40.560 --> 00:04:41.360 Like, what is it? 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:44.399 I don't think many of us, not all of us, know what is the Bible. 00:04:44.560 --> 00:04:48.160 Um, where did it come from, and then what do I do with it? 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:50.879 And and my aim, so here we go. 00:04:51.120 --> 00:04:57.360 My aim is not to answer all of the questions about it. 00:04:57.439 --> 00:04:59.120 I we don't have time for that. 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:02.560 I wrestled, oh my goodness, this week was so hard. 00:05:02.720 --> 00:05:15.920 Not because I didn't know some of the research, it's like, how do we distill this in a 30-minute presentation that is easily, you know, digestible, that you can walk away with, that you got handholds, and it's helpful. 00:05:16.240 --> 00:05:18.879 Who I don't know. 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:20.000 We're gonna find out. 00:05:20.160 --> 00:05:23.199 All right, so here's here's the first thing that we what is the Bible first? 00:05:23.519 --> 00:05:27.439 The Bible is a library, not a book. 00:05:27.680 --> 00:05:28.800 This is so important. 00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:32.240 The Bible is a library, not just a book. 00:05:32.480 --> 00:05:42.240 The Bible is a collection of 66 books, in fact, 39 in the Old Testament or the Hebrew Scriptures, 27 in the New Testament. 00:05:42.480 --> 00:05:48.480 Of those 66 books, they're written by nearly 40 different authors from every walk of life. 00:05:48.639 --> 00:05:58.319 You had kings, you had peasants, you had philosophers, you had fishermen, you had all across uh over 1,500 year span in three different languages. 00:05:58.560 --> 00:06:04.160 The Old Testament, the Hebrew scripture, is primarily written in Hebrew, though parts of it are written in Aramaic. 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:11.759 And then the New Testament, all of it is written in Koine Greek or the common language Greek of the ancient day. 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:25.680 Uh and yet, though it has three different languages, it speaks with remarkable unity and continuity from Genesis to Revelation, telling one unfolding story, God's redemption of humanity. 00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:26.879 What is the Bible? 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:30.639 Well, it is a library of books. 00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:36.480 Now, one of the questions that I get sometimes is, Ryan, do you take the Bible literally? 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:41.040 You know, some of those literal Bible people, what is wrong with them? 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:44.000 I've heard this, I don't know if you've heard that. 00:06:44.319 --> 00:06:45.519 I think that's a great question. 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:49.920 But before I answer it, I think the question is, what do you mean by literal? 00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:54.399 Because the Bible is a literary work. 00:06:55.279 --> 00:07:02.399 And as a literary work, it doesn't just have one kind of writing, it's a collection of all kinds of different writings. 00:07:02.560 --> 00:07:09.759 It's a collection of history, poetry, prophecy, wisdom literature, letters, parables. 00:07:10.079 --> 00:07:20.480 And so, yes, I take it literally, but more importantly, I take it seriously and read it according to what kind of literature you're reading. 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:26.319 Now, for example, Jesus said, I am the gate. 00:07:27.279 --> 00:07:33.040 I don't take it literally that Jesus is a wooden gate on hinges. 00:07:33.519 --> 00:07:34.959 And neither do you. 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:44.639 You realize that he's employing metaphor to say something that is true to help us understand. 00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:49.759 And that's all throughout the Bible in other ways that we need to begin to understand. 00:07:49.920 --> 00:07:52.079 Oh my goodness, how do we read the Bible? 00:07:52.240 --> 00:07:56.399 Read it as a literary work of art, read it according to its literary genres. 00:07:56.560 --> 00:07:58.560 The Bible is a library, not a book. 00:07:58.720 --> 00:08:00.399 And here's something amazing about the Bible. 00:08:00.560 --> 00:08:06.480 The Bible claims to be God's very words, divinely inspired. 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:14.240 The Bible claims that this is not just an ordinary book, this is a God book. 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:15.439 Here's some examples. 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:19.040 Uh 2 Timothy 3.16 says, All scripture is what? 00:08:19.759 --> 00:08:21.279 God breathed. 00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:32.159 Inspired, useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness so the servant of God might be thoroughly equipped for every good work. 00:08:32.720 --> 00:08:34.559 2 Peter 1.20 says this. 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:40.080 All of you must understand that no prophecy of scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation of things. 00:08:40.240 --> 00:08:52.480 He's not just making it up, for prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but a prophet through human spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 00:08:52.639 --> 00:09:02.799 You see that God worked with humanity to produce something that is exactly what he intended to say. 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:06.080 Hebrews 4 says this. 00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:16.480 Like it's not just a God book, it's a powerful book. 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:18.080 It's alive and act. 00:09:19.279 --> 00:09:25.840 And it will transform you and change you, it will lead you as you read it. 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:32.559 And so then the question is okay, if that's what the Bible is, can we really trust the Bible? 00:09:32.879 --> 00:09:34.480 That's his claims. 00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:40.240 The writings in here are at least a couple thousand years old. 00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:42.320 And older. 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:45.360 We have translations from the original language. 00:09:45.600 --> 00:09:51.039 How do we know uh it's what the original authors intended? 00:09:51.679 --> 00:09:56.879 What if the Bible we have today isn't what the or was originally written? 00:09:57.120 --> 00:09:58.559 It's a fair concern. 00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:05.519 Uh the word that we have uh in the for this process is called transmission. 00:10:05.679 --> 00:10:08.240 How do we know that we have the original Bible? 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:12.799 Transmission, how do we know that it hasn't been changed or corrupted over the years? 00:10:12.960 --> 00:10:21.440 Transmission is the process by which the biblical text was copied, preserved, and passed down through history. 00:10:21.919 --> 00:10:25.840 The Bible wasn't casually passed down, it was carefully preserved. 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:30.720 And let me give you just multiple, just we're gonna fire these off. 00:10:30.799 --> 00:10:34.240 These are areas of in people's entire study. 00:10:34.320 --> 00:10:37.279 So I'm sorry about that. 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:40.000 Oh, oh, oh, oh! Sorry, back to the Bible. 00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:43.039 Um, that's what we're talking about the whole time. 00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:46.240 No, you can tell I've been struggling with this one. 00:10:46.480 --> 00:10:48.960 Like, how do I communicate all that I want to communicate? 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:52.080 The Bible's got a lot of hard things in it, too, right? 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:55.759 It's got a lot of difficult sayings, difficult stories. 00:10:55.840 --> 00:10:57.120 What do we do with that? 00:10:57.200 --> 00:10:58.399 And how do we study it? 00:10:58.559 --> 00:11:02.879 Next week, um, in our Still Wondering series, Dan Kimball's gonna be here. 00:11:02.960 --> 00:11:05.519 He's uh author of How Not to Read the Bible. 00:11:05.679 --> 00:11:09.120 They like Jesus but not the church, among other things. 00:11:09.279 --> 00:11:19.200 Um his book, How Not to Read the Bible, our proteges who we're gonna honor at the end of this service, they read that during the theology section of their year. 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:24.240 And this one of the highlights, I highly encourage you to pick it up. 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:29.120 I can't answer all the questions, but I can point you to great resources and people. 00:11:29.360 --> 00:11:32.960 All right, so the Bible wasn't casually passed down, it was carefully preserved. 00:11:33.120 --> 00:11:38.159 First, it was meticulously uh scribal, there was meticulously scribal copying. 00:11:38.480 --> 00:11:45.200 This wasn't just like, oh, you know, I kind of write this and pass it down like, oh, I got the general gist. 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:48.799 Scribes who copied the Bible took great care in transmitting the text. 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:52.559 They counted the words and even the letters to make sure that nothing was omitted. 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:57.519 They had specific regulations for the type of parchment it was written on, the color ink used. 00:11:57.600 --> 00:12:08.080 Uh for the Hebrew scriptures, uh, the the scribes would dress in their full uh, you know, like garb and fresh uh clothing. 00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:13.440 They would put on new fresh clothing when they would write Yahweh's name. 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:19.039 There was just such a sacredness passed on through this. 00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:28.159 Um but the truth is, even with all the meticulous copying, some errors still entered into the text. 00:12:28.720 --> 00:12:29.360 Variants. 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:30.879 What about the errors? 00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:32.240 And maybe you've heard this. 00:12:32.480 --> 00:12:34.960 Oh, there's Bibles full of errors. 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:43.440 The New Testament is 99.5% textually certain. 00:12:44.960 --> 00:12:54.240 Of that 0.5%, most of the differences are in spelling, word order, or minor variations. 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:59.360 For example, some don't spell John's name the same way. 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:05.200 They struggled with spelling just like I do, or changed the order of words. 00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:10.720 Uh, in all of that, no essential doctrine is affected. 00:13:10.879 --> 00:13:12.960 In fact, New Testament scholar F.F. 00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:26.879 Bruce says the variant readings about which any doubt remains among textual critics affect no material question of historic fact or of Christian faith and practice. 00:13:27.360 --> 00:13:30.080 You're like, wow, okay, that's pretty good. 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:32.879 Well, how do we know no essential doctrine is affected? 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:34.480 Didn't powerful men change it, Ryan? 00:13:34.639 --> 00:13:35.679 Didn't they wield more power? 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:37.519 That's what the Da Vinci Code says. 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:39.759 That's what TikTok says. 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:43.919 Well, there's this thing called manuscript evidence, which is incredible. 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:52.639 A manuscript is an ancient handwritten copy of a text carefully preserved and passed down over generations on materials like papyrus, parchment, or vellum. 00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:57.279 We have manuscripts not just of biblical text, but of all ancient writings. 00:13:57.440 --> 00:14:02.000 And so I want to just show you this graph here, uh, and a couple things here. 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:04.799 The number of manuscript copies. 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:07.440 Uh you'll notice some names maybe that you're familiar with. 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:10.080 Pliny, it's not just a beer, it was a person. 00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:12.480 Um, Caesar, Tacitus, Plato. 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:14.240 You know, you guys have heard of Plato. 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:20.399 Herodus, uh, Demosthenes, they were all uh Roman uh historians and politicians. 00:14:20.559 --> 00:14:25.039 Homer, Homer's Iliad, one of the greatest works of the ancient day. 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:34.080 Now, what we have, what I want you to see is like Pliny the Younger, we only have approximately seven manuscripts. 00:14:34.399 --> 00:14:36.080 Julius Caesar, 10. 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:40.399 Tacitus, 20, Plato, only seven manuscripts. 00:14:40.559 --> 00:14:47.200 Of the New Testament, we have 5,800 Greek manuscripts. 00:14:47.679 --> 00:15:02.720 And if you include translations, which it was being translated very early into other languages because it was going all over the ancient world, like Coptic and other 24,000 ancient manuscripts. 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:08.559 We have a ton of copies, and then what you notice is the time gap in years. 00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:18.960 So when it was originally written to our very first copy, and our very first copy is the only one that we have. 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:31.519 Okay, so the time gap, if you take uh Pliny the Younger, when it was first written to the very first copy, is approximately 750 years. 00:15:31.919 --> 00:15:43.840 We don't argue that Pliny wrote that or that it wasn't his words, but we, the closest document that we have to Pliny's words is 750 years after he wrote it. 00:15:44.080 --> 00:15:46.399 Julius Caesar, a thousand years. 00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:48.720 Tacitus, a thousand years. 00:15:49.039 --> 00:15:51.200 Plato, 1,200 years. 00:15:51.279 --> 00:15:58.000 So not only do we have limited documents, we have them a thousand years after. 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:01.759 Homer's Iliad, 500 years after. 00:16:02.159 --> 00:16:16.000 The New Testament, from when it was originally written to uh a thousand years or to the earliest document, is about 50 to 100 years. 00:16:17.519 --> 00:16:21.600 Many copies help preserve the original. 00:16:22.080 --> 00:16:22.879 This is powerful. 00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:29.120 Yes, the New Testament is the most well-attested document in ancient history. 00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:37.679 Uh, we don't have to guess what the New Testament said, we can compare thousands of copies and see it. 00:16:38.000 --> 00:16:41.200 Now, how does this help us understand what the original was? 00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:48.559 I want to give you an example, and these are things that come up, and professors will say it, you'll, or you'll see a video uh on Instagram. 00:16:48.799 --> 00:16:50.399 What about missing verses? 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:53.200 I'm gonna take you to John chapter 5, verse 4. 00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:56.720 And if you go into your Bible, there's no John 5, verse 4. 00:16:56.799 --> 00:16:59.039 You go to King James, there's John 5, verse 4. 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:00.720 Who took it out? 00:17:01.279 --> 00:17:02.159 Powerful men. 00:17:03.840 --> 00:17:06.640 Your English Bible shows its homework. 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:11.359 It's one of the things that's so great about this, is it shows its homework. 00:17:11.519 --> 00:17:32.960 Go to John 5, 4 if you want to, and you're gonna see a little footnote to it, and then it's gonna have like a little letter next to it, and because it and then it's gonna show you at the bottom that the earliest and most well-attested manuscripts don't have this verse in it, and it's our understanding that it was a scribal uh introduction into that. 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:35.119 And so they they actually make a note. 00:17:35.279 --> 00:17:43.200 They, if you're most of ours, actually has that verse written down in the footnotes there for you so you can read it and you can see it. 00:17:43.279 --> 00:17:44.079 They don't take it out. 00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:46.559 Well, why didn't they just adjust the numbering? 00:17:46.799 --> 00:17:54.799 Um, numbering, by the way, the verse, chapter and verse came about in around, you know, first chapter in 1200 AD, uh, verses and 1500 AD. 00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:57.599 That would have messed everything up for everyone. 00:17:57.839 --> 00:18:01.119 Like John 3.16 would be a you know, a different number. 00:18:01.200 --> 00:18:02.960 We'd be like, oh, how do I remember? 00:18:03.039 --> 00:18:06.000 Uh so they just made those edits to show you. 00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:15.599 The question isn't who took it out, but because we have the manuscript evidence, we can see when and where it got placed in. 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:17.599 So we can have confidence. 00:18:17.839 --> 00:18:36.240 Another example is if you go to the end of Mark, Mark chapter 16, the very ending of Mark, it will still have it in there, but it will give you a footnote that our earliest manuscripts, the most well-attested writings, don't have this included. 00:18:37.519 --> 00:18:38.960 So that you can have confidence. 00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:45.039 Anywhere there's a question, actually, the Bible doesn't hide it, and the scholars that put this together don't hide it. 00:18:45.119 --> 00:18:52.480 They put it right there so you can know and you can have confidence that what you have is the word of God. 00:18:53.279 --> 00:18:53.599 Okay. 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:55.039 Manuscript evidence. 00:18:55.119 --> 00:18:56.400 Oh, I gotta go a lot faster. 00:18:56.559 --> 00:18:57.599 Good grief. 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:00.400 You can do it. 00:19:00.640 --> 00:19:02.240 I don't know that I can. 00:19:02.880 --> 00:19:05.279 Uh, archaeology affirms the Bible. 00:19:05.359 --> 00:19:06.559 Let me just give you a two. 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:07.440 I had more. 00:19:07.599 --> 00:19:11.599 The Hittites, for years people group, seemed to be a biblical fabrication. 00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:18.319 The Hittites, recent archaeology, archaeological digs found hundreds of references to the Hittite people. 00:19:18.400 --> 00:19:21.839 They lived over a 1200-year period in the Middle East. 00:19:22.079 --> 00:19:28.720 Isaiah, for example, scholars argued parts of it must have been written later because of his specific prophecies. 00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:36.319 But then the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, pushing our earliest copy of Isaiah back over a thousand years. 00:19:36.720 --> 00:19:45.440 And showing the prophecies not only were already there, but also highlights and confirm that the text had been remarkably preserved. 00:19:45.759 --> 00:19:46.319 William F. 00:19:46.480 --> 00:19:57.839 Albright, he's one of the most respected, influential archaeologists of the 20th century, said there can be no doubt that archaeology has confirmed the substantial historicity of the Old Testament traditions. 00:19:58.160 --> 00:19:59.200 Okay, Ryan. 00:19:59.359 --> 00:20:00.720 Well, what about the Gospels? 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:02.720 That's what we're really concerned about. 00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:06.559 Can we be confident that we have what it tells us about Jesus? 00:20:06.720 --> 00:20:07.279 The Gospels. 00:20:07.359 --> 00:20:10.480 Can we trust the Bible, what the Bible says about Jesus? 00:20:10.720 --> 00:20:19.440 The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John give us the most reliable historical accounts of the life and teaching of Jesus, period. 00:20:20.319 --> 00:20:24.960 First, the Gospels were written within the lifetime of eyewitnesses. 00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:35.200 In fact, this is incredible because there's scholars that really wanted to say, especially the Gospel of John was written about 160, maybe 200 A.D. 00:20:35.519 --> 00:20:42.480 The Ryland Library papyrus, known as P52, is a fragment of the Gospel of John discovered in Egypt. 00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:48.480 So John was written in Asia Minor and then it's discovered in Egypt around A.D. 00:20:48.640 --> 00:20:49.519 125. 00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:51.119 It's dated until around A.D. 00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:54.480 125, making it one of the earliest known pieces of the New Testament. 00:20:54.640 --> 00:21:07.119 This early date shows that John's Gospel was already being copulated and circulated widely within a generation of its writings, strongly supporting its historical reliability. 00:21:09.119 --> 00:21:10.160 Unbelievable. 00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:17.599 Now, if you want to explore, maybe you heard, well, what about the suppression of other gospels like the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Judas, the Gospel of Mary? 00:21:17.680 --> 00:21:21.680 I would love one to talk more after church or another time with you. 00:21:21.920 --> 00:21:27.519 But I want to point you to a great scholar that's online all over the place, a Canadian scholar named Wesley Huff. 00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:28.799 He's doing excellent work. 00:21:28.880 --> 00:21:34.319 He just uh released a video series, a YouTube series, Can I Trust the Bible? 00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:38.880 And he dives into understanding where those came from. 00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:42.960 All of those are dated in the second and third century. 00:21:43.359 --> 00:21:50.319 So they're years way after the life of Christ, way after the eyewitness account. 00:21:50.559 --> 00:21:58.480 Anyways, they're not earlier accounts that were left out, they're later reinterpretations that show how quickly the message of Jesus could be reshaped. 00:21:58.720 --> 00:21:59.759 First, the gospel was written with. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:01.200 The lifetime of Jesus. 00:22:01.359 --> 00:22:04.000 Secondly, they're historically grounded. 00:22:04.880 --> 00:22:15.200 Luke, he's a historian and a doctor, frequently cites cities, Roman provinces, political figures, making his writer, uh writing vulnerable to historical examination. 00:22:15.440 --> 00:22:29.440 For example, critics scoffed his reference to Lysanius as the Tetriarch of Abilene, but archaeologists recently found two Greek inscriptions which prove that Lysanius was indeed the Tetriarch of Albin, A.D. 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:31.119 14 to 29. 00:22:31.279 --> 00:22:32.720 It's historically grounded. 00:22:32.880 --> 00:22:35.680 The Gospels are embarrassingly honest. 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:39.680 Historians often point to what's called as the criterion of embarrassment. 00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:41.039 The idea is simple. 00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:47.680 If a source includes details that are awkward, unflattering, or culturally inconvenient, it's less likely to be invented. 00:22:48.160 --> 00:22:51.920 If you were going to make it up, you would make yourself look better. 00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:56.240 Peter denied Jesus, Thomas doubted Jesus, disciples were constantly confused. 00:22:56.400 --> 00:22:58.960 The first witnesses of the resurrection were women. 00:22:59.119 --> 00:23:01.839 In that day, not a reliable, credible witness. 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:03.519 There's so much in there. 00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:05.519 It's embarrassingly honest. 00:23:05.759 --> 00:23:10.160 It was preserved and quoted very, very early. 00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:16.079 The New Testament wasn't just written early, it was recognized, preserved, and quoted very early. 00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:18.880 It was deemed authoritative. 00:23:19.119 --> 00:23:23.920 Comment of Rome, AD595, quotes multiple New Testament writings. 00:23:24.160 --> 00:23:32.000 Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp of Smyrna, Justin the Martyr, Justin Martyr, not the martyr, and Tertullian. 00:23:32.240 --> 00:23:34.880 By the end of the second century, think about this. 00:23:35.359 --> 00:23:45.039 Just a hundred years after Christ, by the end of the second century, 25 of the 27 books of the New Testament were already being widely quoted and treated as authoritative. 00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:46.319 Here's what's remarkable. 00:23:46.480 --> 00:23:57.440 Even if we didn't have all those manuscripts, you could reconstruct almost the entire New Testament just from the quotations of the early church fathers. 00:23:58.000 --> 00:24:01.279 Well, Ryan, what about contradictions? 00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:16.720 Maybe someone, I mean, I remember having a friend come up to me and he's just like, so, like, this is back in the college, young adults' days, he's like, someone talked to me, and there's all these contradictions, and one of them was like, How Judas dies. 00:24:16.960 --> 00:24:17.920 I said, Oh, really? 00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:19.200 A contradiction. 00:24:19.599 --> 00:24:24.160 By the way, differences don't mean contradictions. 00:24:24.640 --> 00:24:32.400 In Matthew 27, the author of Judas, uh, not the author of Judas, the author tells us that Judas hung himself. 00:24:32.640 --> 00:24:39.519 But in Acts 1, Luke tells us uh that he fell headlong, burst open in the middle, and all his intestines gushed out. 00:24:39.599 --> 00:24:40.559 Yeah, pretty gory. 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:41.440 Got it. 00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:45.440 Well, those are pretty different accounts of how Judas died, right? 00:24:46.799 --> 00:24:47.359 Not really. 00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:52.559 Judas hung himself in the valley of Hinnan, which is a valley with many rocky ledges surrounding the valley. 00:24:52.640 --> 00:24:57.200 What he most likely did was go to the edge of a cliff, hang himself on a tree, swing there for a period of time. 00:24:57.359 --> 00:24:58.559 I know this is gruesome. 00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:05.839 At some point the branch broke and he fell to the valley below, landing on jagged rocks that rise as high as 25 feet in the air. 00:25:06.000 --> 00:25:09.039 No doubt his body burst open at that point. 00:25:09.279 --> 00:25:14.960 One passage describes what Jesus is tempted to do, and the other how he was found. 00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:20.640 Michael Kruger, a New Testament scholar, renowned scholar, says this people have studied these books for 2,000 years. 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:24.319 I think it's reassuring to know that they've been stood the test of time. 00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:40.319 When you look at the details, when you look at the historical work and you carefully uh and you're careful with the text, you'll quickly discover that what looks like apparent contradictions actually have answers, and they've had answers for a very long time. 00:25:41.519 --> 00:25:41.839 Okay. 00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:49.920 So what do people, not just people, what do historians say about Jesus? 00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:56.960 This is critical because everything we believe actually doesn't hinge on a book. 00:25:57.440 --> 00:26:05.440 It hinges on the person of Jesus and the historical event with whether he rose from the dead. 00:26:05.599 --> 00:26:10.880 Because if he did rise from the dead, then all that he said is true and trustworthy. 00:26:10.960 --> 00:26:17.599 And if he did not, this is a waste of time, and you can do a number of other things with your Sundays. 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:20.720 So, what do historians actually agree about Jesus? 00:26:20.880 --> 00:26:22.799 First, that he was a historical person. 00:26:23.119 --> 00:26:28.880 Bart Ehrman, New Testament scholar, he self-describes himself as an agnostic atheist. 00:26:29.039 --> 00:26:30.000 I didn't put that in there. 00:26:30.079 --> 00:26:31.759 That's how he defines himself. 00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:36.480 He writes, he's one of the preeminent uh scholars, even though he's an atheist. 00:26:36.640 --> 00:26:41.039 I do not think there are any historian who doubts the existence of Jesus. 00:26:41.279 --> 00:26:46.880 We have more evidence for Jesus than we have for almost anybody from this time period. 00:26:47.119 --> 00:26:53.920 Jesus is one of the best attested figures in ancient history outside the Bible, not just inside the Bible. 00:26:54.240 --> 00:26:56.799 Jesus was executed by Roman crucifixion. 00:26:56.960 --> 00:27:00.240 Tacitus, Roman historian, writes this about Jesus. 00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:20.480 Christus, the founder of the name, had undergone the death penalty in the reign of Tiberius by sentence of the procurator, uh procurator, sorry, Pontius Pilate, and the pernicious superstition was checked for a moment, only to break out once more, not merely in Judea, the home of the disease, but in Rome itself, where all things horrible and shameful in the world collect and become fashionable. 00:27:20.640 --> 00:27:22.240 He's got a good view of Rome. 00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:27.119 So Jesus, a historical person, he was executed by Rome. 00:27:27.279 --> 00:27:31.200 Extra biblical ancient historians in that day corroborate. 00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:35.279 Jesus' followers believed he rose from the dead. 00:27:36.400 --> 00:27:52.319 Jared Ludemann, German New Testament scholar, atheist, does not believe Jesus actually rose from the dead, writes this it may be taken as historically certain that Peter and the disciples had experiences after Jesus' death in which Jesus led them as the risen Christ. 00:27:52.480 --> 00:27:56.640 Like his followers truly believed they saw the risen Lord. 00:27:58.480 --> 00:28:02.720 And Jesus' followers worshiped him as God. 00:28:03.680 --> 00:28:06.960 You know, the DaVinci Code said, oh, that came way later. 00:28:07.119 --> 00:28:08.079 That was invented. 00:28:08.319 --> 00:28:16.960 Pliny the Younger, who we're talking about, he wrote, they, speaking of the Christians, were in the habit of meeting on a fixed day before dawn. 00:28:17.359 --> 00:28:20.400 Should we start doing our worship services before dawn? 00:28:20.880 --> 00:28:22.319 Maybe, maybe. 00:28:22.640 --> 00:28:26.960 And singing a hymn to Christ as to a God. 00:28:28.480 --> 00:28:43.839 Notice that both the early Gospels and letters, the early church fathers, and other ancient witnesses all describe that Jesus was worshipped as a God and claim to be God. 00:28:44.319 --> 00:28:47.839 Okay, back to Rosaline Picard's question. 00:28:48.160 --> 00:28:51.519 Is Christianity based on objective truth? 00:28:51.920 --> 00:28:53.680 Or is it just a delusion? 00:28:54.079 --> 00:29:05.839 That keep people from com for some keep people, that good degree from struggling, that people keep alive for some compelling reason. 00:29:07.200 --> 00:29:09.440 Well, what should you do with the Bible? 00:29:10.720 --> 00:29:14.160 One, read it for yourself. 00:29:17.920 --> 00:29:20.799 We didn't always have it in this text. 00:29:20.960 --> 00:29:24.799 In fact, there's many believers around the world that don't. 00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:33.839 In the persecuted areas of the world where it is illegal to be a follower of Jesus, you get parts of the Bible. 00:29:34.240 --> 00:29:36.799 You hold on to it and it's precious to you. 00:29:36.880 --> 00:29:39.599 You memorize it in case it's taken from you. 00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:44.160 And yet, so often it just collects dust. 00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:47.839 We have it on our phones, even. 00:29:47.920 --> 00:29:50.480 We have access like never before. 00:29:50.720 --> 00:29:55.039 At some point, this has to stop being a history question and a personal one. 00:29:56.000 --> 00:30:02.079 Because if it's true, if this really is the word of God, it's not just information, it's an invitation. 00:30:03.440 --> 00:30:08.240 The Bible is the best-selling book of all time, not the Da Vinci Code. 00:30:08.319 --> 00:30:09.759 We should probably read it. 00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:14.960 There's a group in our church, a group of women that are doing the Bible recap. 00:30:15.039 --> 00:30:19.759 They're reading the Bible in a year, and about every month or so, they're getting together and just discussing it. 00:30:19.839 --> 00:30:21.200 It's awesome. 00:30:22.480 --> 00:30:28.079 Rosalind Picard, she says this. 00:30:28.960 --> 00:30:33.920 I started reading the Bible, and it started to change me. 00:30:34.799 --> 00:30:36.319 It's powerful. 00:30:38.240 --> 00:30:42.000 She was an atheist, brilliant mind. 00:30:43.279 --> 00:30:45.920 And a family that she babysat and invited her to church. 00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:51.839 She would come up with all sorts of excuses of why, uh, stomach ache, feel don't feel good, all these sort of things. 00:30:53.039 --> 00:30:54.799 Eventually ran out of excuses. 00:30:54.960 --> 00:30:57.920 They asked if she had ever read the Bible, and she said no. 00:30:58.559 --> 00:31:01.519 Now, well, we'll start with the Proverbs, and so she did. 00:31:03.759 --> 00:31:08.720 It took time, she writes, because I did not want to believe in God and I resisted. 00:31:08.880 --> 00:31:11.759 But as I read the Bible, I felt God talking to me. 00:31:12.000 --> 00:31:18.240 I eventually went to church, and the pastor challenged us to consider inviting Jesus to be Lord of our life. 00:31:18.559 --> 00:31:25.200 That sounded a little wacky to me, but I decided to run it as a scientific experiment. 00:31:25.839 --> 00:31:29.119 If it's really stupid, it won't make any difference. 00:31:29.920 --> 00:31:31.599 It doesn't really matter. 00:31:31.920 --> 00:31:39.839 And if it makes a difference, wouldn't it be better to have the mind of the whole universe who knows everything as Lord of my life? 00:31:40.240 --> 00:31:42.000 So I took that step. 00:31:42.240 --> 00:31:43.759 It made an enormous difference. 00:31:43.920 --> 00:31:45.440 The load was lifted. 00:31:45.519 --> 00:31:48.160 I felt amazing peace. 00:31:48.720 --> 00:31:51.519 I once thought I was too smart to believe in God. 00:31:51.839 --> 00:32:03.359 Now I know I was an arrogant fool who snubbed the greatest mind in the cosmos, the author of all science, mathematics, art, and everything else there is to know. 00:32:07.039 --> 00:32:09.519 Would you just start reading it? 00:32:11.759 --> 00:32:14.480 If you don't know where to start, you can start in Proverbs. 00:32:15.519 --> 00:32:18.000 Start in the gospels, get to know Jesus. 00:32:18.400 --> 00:32:19.359 What do we do with the Bible? 00:32:19.519 --> 00:32:20.559 Read it secondly. 00:32:22.079 --> 00:32:23.440 Take Jesus seriously. 00:32:26.240 --> 00:32:28.079 Would you just take him seriously? 00:32:35.119 --> 00:32:42.240 If Jesus is who he says he is, I've said it so many times, but I'll I'll probably die saying this. 00:32:42.400 --> 00:32:49.279 He is not just a good man, and he doesn't just have good thoughts, and he's not just a place where you get good advice. 00:32:49.519 --> 00:33:01.519 He is God in flesh, and he is savior of the world, and he came and suffered at the hands of his own creation that you might have life. 00:33:03.519 --> 00:33:10.000 And then he said this: Go and make disciples. 00:33:11.839 --> 00:33:18.640 Go tell the world that the greatest event in history has happened. 00:33:21.119 --> 00:33:25.119 Because the greatest person on the planet showed up. 00:33:28.799 --> 00:33:34.880 Teaching them to obey everything I've commanded. 00:33:38.400 --> 00:33:43.440 Taking Jesus seriously means taking what he said seriously. 00:33:44.160 --> 00:33:48.960 Whoever wants to follow me must deny themselves, pick up their cross. 00:33:50.160 --> 00:33:51.119 Follow me. 00:33:53.200 --> 00:33:55.519 The first will be last. 00:33:58.559 --> 00:34:03.200 Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you. 00:34:06.480 --> 00:34:15.679 A community that says He is our Lord, He is our Savior, He is our rescuer, He is our leader, and He is the author of life. 00:34:15.760 --> 00:34:18.480 And so I'm going to trust Him with my life. 00:34:19.760 --> 00:34:27.440 And I'm going to trust the way He understands the world, the way He understands reality, and the way He says life is meant to be lived. 00:34:27.519 --> 00:34:31.840 And it is counterintuitive to everything that our world says and go, you know what? 00:34:31.920 --> 00:34:36.880 I'm just going to begin to follow Him and walk after Him and know Him. 00:34:37.920 --> 00:34:40.320 Because nothing else matters. 00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:46.320 We take ourselves too seriously and we take Jesus too lightly. 00:34:49.599 --> 00:34:52.880 So may we become a people with a book. 00:34:55.760 --> 00:35:02.000 Not because the Bible tells me so, but because it's historically found, it is reliable. 00:35:02.159 --> 00:35:08.480 It gives us the best early written information about the life of Jesus. 00:35:08.719 --> 00:35:10.320 We follow a person. 00:35:10.719 --> 00:35:13.119 His name is Jesus. 00:35:13.519 --> 00:35:25.519 And if you're questioning him, I invite you to investigate through God's word, through historical reality, did he really rise from the dead? 00:35:25.760 --> 00:35:27.760 And come to your own conclusion. 00:35:28.480 --> 00:35:30.000 I double dare you. 00:35:30.800 --> 00:35:31.920 Check it out. 00:35:32.559 --> 00:35:34.000 Jesus, thanks for today. 00:35:34.159 --> 00:35:35.679 Thanks for your grace. 00:35:37.679 --> 00:35:42.159 Thanks for even like I'm a little scattered because I had so much content. 00:35:42.400 --> 00:35:44.880 I just, Holy Spirit, I just asked. 00:35:48.480 --> 00:35:56.800 Yeah, for my each person that as we what we heard, that you would build a deep confidence. 00:35:57.760 --> 00:36:02.880 That you don't have to throw your brains in the trash to follow you. 00:36:05.360 --> 00:36:07.039 And a deep reverence. 00:36:08.880 --> 00:36:14.719 That we might come to an awe and a wonder of you, Jesus. 00:36:14.960 --> 00:36:16.320 In your name. 00:36:17.039 --> 00:36:17.679 Amen. 00:36:18.400 --> 00:36:20.639 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:36:20.800 --> 00:36:25.199 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:36:25.440 --> 00:36:27.519 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:36:27.679 --> 00:36:45.199 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.com slash cards.